Keezer size suggestions please

[Hudson1984]

Hi all,

i'm still kicking around - been doing a few tester brews, the wife now has a preferred wine, I've found a few nice ciders.
main issue I have is carbonation, the cider just needs the fizz - for me it does anyway.

So it's time to start this keezer off - especially if another lockdown is coming

I intend to have a keg for wine (running on nitrogen)
a keg for cider
a key for lager
and possibly a 4th keg for Xmas and stuff when I might want extra capacity.

So, 4 cornys, 2 gas bottles.

what size chest freezer should I be looking at? Probably have to buy it new with all the restrictions and making delivery easier etc.

[Rankin_leigh]

I recently got a second hand chest freezer that will fit 6 kegs once I get around to a collar (last 2 on the shelf).
It's 200L. But I spent quite a while looking at different sizes. Most 200l tended to be too narrow with the extra space being in the width.
This one fits exactly 2 deep and 3 wide.
I ended doing the whole drawing round and making 6 discs to take to currys.
I try and find a make on it when I can.

[IPA]

Hi all,

i'm still kicking around - been doing a few tester brews, the wife now has a preferred wine, I've found a few nice ciders.
main issue I have is carbonation, the cider just needs the fizz - for me it does anyway.

So it's time to start this keezer off - especially if another lockdown is coming

I intend to have a keg for wine (running on nitrogen)
a keg for cider
a key for lager
and possibly a 4th keg for Xmas and stuff when I might want extra capacity.

So, 4 cornys, 2 gas bottles.


what size chest freezer should I be looking at? Probably have to buy it new with all the restrictions and making delivery easier etc.

Just measure the floor space needed for the cornies and then visit a shop and find the right size. Take into account that you cannot use the space on the compressor housing because it is too high to stand a cornie on. Stand your gas outside of the keezer.

[Hudson1984]

I'd agree - if I had any cornys

I was hoping to get the freezer in, panel it, make the bar area etc, then add the cornys at a later date - I'll get the cornys first and plan around them instead then

[f00b4r]

Agassi bear in mind that corny kegs come in two shapes, the new ones tend to be the taller thinner ones. In fridges it can certainly make a big difference in the number of kegs you can fit.

[Jocky]

I have a Fridgemaster MCF194.

It fits three of the taller, slimmer cornies on the main floor, and with the 20cm collar I've added it will take two more on the compressor hump for a total of five. In reality the 5th one is a pain as it only partly sits on the hump, and slightly touches one of the tap shanks, so actually I use a 10 litre mini keg instead as it sits on the floor and then leaves me space on the hump for some bottles.

Gas and regulators are all outside. I could fit it inside but it would take away from keg/beer storage, and I like being able to see all the dials.

I would have liked a 300 litre freezer but it wasn't going to fit through the door of the room it was going in, so I figured 5 kegs should be enough for one man







Since these photos I've properly insulated the interior with about 3cm of neoprene I had sitting around, so you don't see any of the wood making up the collar structure.

[Hudson1984]

Ah ok, yeah 5 would be pushing it for me haha, I was looking at the same freezer so it's good to know what it'll hold.

I mean 19l of wine is a bit much in all reality so would probably be better off using a smaller keg for our wine brews. Which would then give space for 3 x 19l kegs and 1 x 10l and that looks like it would all sit comfortably in there.

I've got a partition wall in the garage so the plan is to have the keezer on one side, and the gas on the other.... that being said, I'm still considering having the keezer and bottles on one side and running the taps through the partition wall so essentially leaving a clear tap wall.

[Jocky]

Make sure you get the taller, slimmer 19l kegs (should be about 630mm tall and 210mm diameter). Most of the second hand ones going around are the shorter and fatter type (230mm diameter) and based upon my measurements I think you'll only get two of those + a 10 litre keg on the floor.

Regarding where to have the taps - one thing to consider is how to keep the taps cool. It's really important for the foam reduction, mainly for the first pour. If they're attached to a collar like mine then they'll stay mostly cool. If they're going through a wall or something you'll need to blow cold air or something through a conduit to keep them cool.